Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Novelization
by Almedha
Summary: A straight-forward novelization of the game with some battle embellishments. No less, little more. Rating for violence.
1. Prologue

**_Informational:_**

_For your information:_

_This is a novelization of the game Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance as I imagine the action. Most of the dialogue is straight from the game, though I took a few small liberties. I cut a little and added some. Probably most of it is there, actually, so if you didn't want to or can't play the game for some reason you can still get the story! (Most of the during-battle dialogue is by me, though I'm fairly confident in my representation of the characters.)_

_To you die-hard FE fans, so sorry if there's just not a lot of mention of your favorite character but there are a jillion characters in this game and it would be impossible to maintain the story's integrity while also giving every last character the focus they deserve. Because every last character in this game is awesome, make no mistake. I might do side chapters or something for requested support conversations, but don't expect to see any outside of some of Ike's support conversations with people like Titania and Soren—in other words, supports that explain parts of the story and are not just fluff in the grand scheme of things._

_Also, most likely, for most of this I won't be using only the game's chapter divisions. I'll have the actual chapter divisions plus more, because the chapters will just start getting ridiculously long. I'll try to give them some continuity, but I can't promise anything on that front._

_If you're wondering why in the world someone would do this with no OC, no extra anything, just the game's script and added action—then you already have the answer. My reason for writing this was two-fold. I wrote the first eight chapters in the car on a road trip because I was bored near death. Then I realized what great practice it would be to continue it, using it to write action between dialogue and combat. So that's what this is! Practice for me. Combat. Beats. The end. Fun, yes?_

_And, finally, here is a list of pairings that may or may not turn up. I'm not usually into pairings for the sake of pairings, but Fire Emblem is the one fandom I make exception for. So here are the pairs that might happen. That said, I'm not opposed to entertaining pairing suggestions as long as they're reasonable. (Except Titania/Rhys, my favorite pairing.) (The ones marked C are the ones I believe are canon, what with the different endings for Radiant Dawn. Anyway, I will be using these, unless a better idea comes up.)_

_Titania/Rhys_

_Oscar/Mia_

_Ike/Lucia_

_Geoffrey/Elincia – C_

_Mist/Boyd – C _

_Leanne/Naesala – C_

_Allow me to disclaim: I own nothing and profit nothing. ALL THE THANKS TO: GameFAQs Kh40t1x for the full script. This would have taken so much longer without that._

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**Prologue : Practice**

"Ike! Ike, wake up!"

Ike fought the throbbing in his head as he pushed himself up. He vaguely remembered two things. First, the ground had seemed a lot more welcoming as he realized he was losing consciousness and the dirt was coming up fast. Second, that was his mother's voice. Wasn't it? No, that was impossible. She'd died when his little sister, Mist, was young.

Oh, Mist. That was who that was. He'd never noticed how similar the two looked. Ike squinted up at the too-bright sun as Mist scooted toward him on her knees and placed one of her little hands on his head, her blue eyes screaming concern. "Ike, are you alright?"

Ike groaned as he slip a hand up to his forehead, feeling for a lump on the way. "Yeah," he said. "I'll be fine."

That was without doubt because, standing not too far away leaning on a tree with a grin that Ike was told he shared, was his father. Greil was a massive man, meant for wielding battleaxes that matched his arms in size. Greil nodded in agreement with Ike's assessment of himself and moved to offer him a hand up.

"The sleeping prince awakens!" Greil laughed as Ike landed on shaky legs. Mist was less than approving.

"Father, I can't believe you. I know these are practice swords, but they're still heavy." She made a show of pouting as she rolled the wooden stick that Ike had been using as a weapon perhaps only minutes before onto her knees. "You have no right to be so rough on Ike."

"Mist," Greil said, "if _this_ is too much for the boy, he'll never make it as a mercenary."

Ike nodded in agreement, ignoring his throbbing temples and hoping Mist would take that as a cue to be quiet about it. It was his fault—he struck when he should have parried. What did Mist know about it anyway? "I told you I was fine. You don't have to worry about me; I'm fine."

Ike cringed and staggered forward a step as Greil laughed and slapped his shoulder. "You'd better be," Greil said, readying his own blade in a single hand. "Now…" Greil backed away a few steps and pointed at the practice blade on Mist's lap. "Grab your sword and get ready."

Mist made a weak objection when Ike snatched the sword and twirled it in his hand once. His head still ached and his vision doubled dangerously, but he knew he would never be able to stop in the middle of a real battle if his head hurt. When he saw Mist's face, still concerned, he put on a smile for her. "Just until I land one blow. I'm not giving up until then."

"I like your resolve," Greil said with a nod of respect, something Ike had come to know more of as he got older. "But it will take more than a strong will to—"

"Hey, Boss!" Greil stopped and looked up into the forest at the interruption. A member of the Greil Mercenaries was sauntering down the forest path, looking quite pleased with himself. But that was Boyd… "I knew I'd find you here." He ran a hand through his green spiked hair and looked at Mist critically.

She stared back for a moment. "Hi. What brings you here?"

"Nothing." Boyd wandered away a few steps as though he was thinking about how to answer her question. He looked back at her, now seeming annoyed. "You said you were going to get the boss, but you never came back. So Oscar and Titania picked _me_ to check up on you."

Boyd just shrugged when she apologized, regaining his good humor. "No problem. I figured I'd get a good laugh watching Ike get worked over by the boss." Boyd turned and inspected him. "You look… fine. What happened?"

"Nothing at all. Sorry to disappoint you." Ike grinned.

"You just missed it!" Mist said, sidling up to Boyd and touching his arm half a moment. "A minute ago he was out cold."

"Mist!" She giggled and apologized, but Ike doubted her sincerity.

Greil shook his head at the ruckus before hurling his practice sword through the air. Boyd caught it just as Greil was saying, "You came at just the right time. You can be Ike's sparring partner. I'm beginning to think it'd be better if Ike sparred with someone closer to his own skill."

Boyd almost looked as disappointed as Ike was, but they both knew better than to argue. He'd really wanted to get a good hit on his father. "I understand." Ike looked to Boyd. "Thanks for your help."

Boyd grunted and assumed his fighting stance, saying "I don't know about this 'closer to his own skill' business, but I'm ready." He leaned the stick on his shoulder as he would his own axe.

Ike looked down at the stick in his hands, tightened his grip, envisioned himself blocking a strike of Boyd's, parrying, going in for the kill. He wouldn't hurt Boyd of course… Or perhaps he should have been worried about Boyd hurting him. Boyd was stronger than Ike was and with more experience. On the other hand, as long as Ike could remember he'd been the quicker on his feet and could dodge any jesting punch without thinking.

But this was different. This was a sword. Boyd held his practice sword as he would his axe, and, judging by the look on his face, he wasn't going to take it easy on him. Best to get in the first strike, fast. It was a little more boisterous a beginning than Ike would have considered outside, but with Boyd he had to show off.

Ike charged at Boyd, unleashing a battle cry while swinging his sword down with a little too much enthusiasm. Before Ike realized what had happened, his sword was sticking in the dirt as Boyd was swinging his "axe" down toward Ike's sword, with the intention of breaking it. Ike retracted his sword just in time, leaving Boyd leaning over his blade on the ground.

Now was the perfect time to strike.

But Boyd realized that just as soon as Ike did. For an instant Boyd had a troubled expression, but then he smirked. Just as Ike was bringing his sword down at Boyd's neck, Boyd's foot came out of nowhere, the heel of his boot clocking Ike across the face. Ike sprawled onto the ground, giving Boyd ample time to recover.

Ike quickly pointed his blade at Boyd in defense as he picked himself up. The head. Why was it always the head?

Boyd leaned forward, hand on one knee, and grinned at him. "Come on, Ike. Is that all you got?"

_Just about,_ Ike wanted to say, but had the forethought not to. Boyd would never let him live that down. But his head hurt, he could barely see, and he wasn't sure if that was Mist cheering or his father. "You can do it!" Ike glanced in their direction and saw Mist anxiously grasp Greil's arm, shouting, "Boyd's got nothing!"

Boyd halted all attempts at making this a serious practice scrape and letting the tip of his practice sword touch the ground and Ike take a breath. "Nothing? I don't have nothing! I mean, I have—" He stopped and growled as he shook his head. "Aw, it doesn't matter. Come on, Ike!"

They circled one another, Ike considering his options and throbbing head, until Boyd suddenly attacked. Before the practice sword could swing into Ike's head, he deflected the blow by throwing his blade up over his head. Boyd's weapon slid harmlessly to the side, at least as far as Ike's head was concerned. _Why… always… the head?_

When Boyd came in with an upwards strike, Ike miraculously saw it coming, albeit in double. If he was going to end this, it had to be now. Batting down Boyd's practice sword, Ike lunged in and held his blade to Boyd's throat—well, one of them, anyway.

Boyd looked down the edge of the blade, seeming confused. Then he looked up at Ike and smiled a little. "That wasn't _too_ bad."

Ike smiled and let his sword drop as Greil gripped his shoulder with one of his huge hands. After telling Boyd that was good enough, he looked at Ike. "Your swordsmanship was decent enough," he began, not sounding overly impressed. "Don't forget how it felt. It won't always be this easy."

"Wait a second—easy?" Boyd interrupted.

Ike ignored Boyd's objections and nodded even though the motion felt like rocking his brain back and forth inside his skull. "I know." When he looked up at Greil, he was taking the practice sword from Boyd.

"Good. Now that you're done warming up, it's time for you to face me again." He waved Mist and Boyd away and raised his sword in one hand. Ike had just barely caught his breath and aligned his vision to see just the one Greil and the quivering practice sword. "Get ready, Ike, here I come."

Ike held up his sword just in time: when Greil lunged forward with a stab, Ike had the wherewithal to parry and come in with his own strike for Greil's neck. The movement doubled and tripled the images until he couldn't tell what was what. He only knew his sword hadn't connected with anything solid as Greil twirled his sword under Ike's blade, and ducked underneath it. Ike barely had time to move before Greil stepped forward, his sword about to make contact with Ike's stomach.

Ike didn't have much room to move with the blade inches from his torso. He twisted toward Greil and recoiled his sword for a strike to the ribs—at least where he thought the ribs should have been. Greil seemed to have anticipated this, though, and quickly turned his blade back toward Ike. Ike pulled back, batted the attack away, and staggered back several steps. He blinked twice and tried to pick one of the floating images of Greil.

At least he had the consolation that, if he'd gotten hit like this in an actual battle, he wouldn't have a head anymore. If he didn't have a head, he wouldn't have to worry about fighting, that was for sure.

Ike shifted his weight, waiting, but he wasn't sure what for. He noticed Greil's even breathing, tried to match it. It were as though Greil were not in the middle of a battle at all—though Ike had to imagine he couldn't have cut an imposing figure at all in the shadow of such a great fighter. He saw Greil shift his weight in his black boots ever so slightly, and the tip of his practice sword twist faintly.

Greil was preparing for a strike, probably a stab.

As soon as he saw Greil move, Ike leaped to the side and lunged forward. If it didn't connect, it was over and he would give up. He would rather no head than this throbbing one, if given the choice. But, completely to his surprise, his blade ran the length of Greil's torso; it would have been a bloody mess if these swords had not been wooden.

Ike's quick movement had not gone unnoticed by his sister. "Ike!" Mist jumped around, practically squealing with glee and tugging on Boyd's shirt, despite Boyd's annoyed attempts to brush her off.

Ike knew better, but smiled at her as he dropped his sword. Greil, who had planted the tip of his practice sword firmly in the dirt, raised his eyebrows at Ike.

"Father?" Ike asked. "You were holding back, weren't you?"

Mist looked from Ike to Greil, looking angry. Ike moved next to her and smiled, knowing that he would probably never defeat Greil of his own merits. Greil was a master swordsman and an even better with his battleaxe. The fact that he was able to come down to Ike's level so perfectly, with just enough of a challenge to goad him to his greatest potential—Ike could only hope to be so good someday.

"If you could tell the difference that means you're improving."

Ike didn't have a chance to answer before Boyd spoke up. "You know, I wasn't really giving it my all either…"

Mist rolled her eyes and Greil chuckled before suggesting they head back to the fort. Mist skipped ahead, gathering flowers, while Greil, Ike, and Boyd walked behind at a leisurely pace. The cool breeze and gentle stride did wonders for Ike's headache, as long as he didn't look from one side to the other too quickly.

The fort came into view at the summit of the next hill, the place Ike had called home for almost as long as he could remember. He could remember a time when he didn't live in this place, but whenever he tried to recall an image of it, all he could see in his mind's eye was the mercenary fortress: its tall, safe walls; the wooden structures, some with multiple floors; and the courtyard where he had played "mercenary" as a boy the career he wanted so badly as a man.

"So, Father, does that mean that you finally admit that I'm ready?" Ike asked.

"What, to join the company?" Greil asked. "To take on a job?"

Ike watched him look up at the sky as though he was not even thinking about the question. Ike tried not to be angry, but he couldn't ignore that he and Boyd were roughly the same age, give or take a few months, when they were standing right next to each other. Boyd was a full-fledged mercenary with Greil and the others. If Boyd was ready, Ike thought he must have been.

"I mean, Boyd's already out there on the battlefield." Enough excuses. He wouldn't get anywhere by begging. The only way Greil would truly know that he was ready was to demand it. "I'm ready. I'm tired of being a trainee."

There was one other thing, though, and he dare not utter it, especially with such a foggy head. He was tired of being Greil's son. He wanted to be Greil's employee, but Greil was harder on Ike than on any of the others. Perhaps only because Ike was his son.

"Listen," Boyd said, speaking straight into Ike's thoughts. "The difference between you and me is that I'm a professional."

Mist laughed giddily as she blew dandelion fuzz into the breeze a distance away. "A professional who just got beat!" With that, she sprinted down the hill toward home.

"That was just random chance!" Boyd called after her before looking at Ike. "Random chance."

Greil, who had been watching with a deep disinterest, suddenly got a sparkle in his brown eyes. "You've got a point, Ike." Maybe he was thinking about Boyd, too. Boyd was the most immature of the mercenaries, though he wasn't the youngest. Ike would have liked to think he was more responsible, but he knew better than to say that. He'd end up eating those words, doubtless.

"All right," Greil said as they walked past the large wooden gates. "Tomorrow will be your first day as a full-fledged mercenary."

"Really?" Ike threw a fist in the air, perhaps a bit prematurely. His head started aching again.

"But!" Greil interrupted his reverie with a hand on Ike's chest and a glare that could stop an avalanche. "If I think it's too hard, you're back to trainee status."

Greil held Ike with his gaze a moment before placing his training sword in a barrel by the meeting building. He started to walk away, perhaps to see what Titania had wanted. Ike called out before he could get too far away: "No problem! Watch! I'll catch up to everyone in no time!"

Greil turned to look at Ike before going inside the door to the eating hall. Ike might have been imagining things, but Greil might have smiled a little, nodded just as minutely, as though he maybe agreed. "We'll see."


	2. Chapter 1

_Gunlord; haha, Yes, I guess I was just over-explaining my obvious lack of creativity where the dialogue was concerned. I'm glad you enjoyed it, though; thanks for your review!_

_Hannah; You are so right, there are so many characters in Fire Emblem. I could absolutely not handle another one. Besides, I like Ike way more than any OC I could conjure. :) _

_One little thing: I decided to cut the little tutorial things included in the dialogue that wouldn't make sense to say in real life. Besides, I feel like if Ike had been training and training and training to finally be a mercenary he would probably already know these things anyway. You all know the weapons triangle forwards and backwards already anyway, right? :)_

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**Chapter 1 : The Battle Begins**

When Ike rose the next day, the sun was already shining in the far window of the house across Mist's empty pillow. That could only mean one thing… Ike bolted out of bed and pulled on his shirt, grabbing his sword as he ran out the door. He found himself in the empty fort yard, terrified for the moment that the others had left without him. Then he saw the door to the meeting hall was open and he could just barely hear Greil and his deputy commander, Titania, talking.

Taking a deep breath of the morning air, Ike walked over and leaned into the open doorway. As he thought, Titania and Greil were sitting at the table, talking over a delicious-smelling morning coffee. Oscar had made it. It always smelled slightly burnt when Mist had breakfast duty.

"Good morning, Ike," Titania said, lifting the mug to her lips with a smile. She had been deputy commander for as long as Ike could remember. She was a marvelous knight and a beautiful woman with long red hair and sharp features too often hidden behind her helmet's slotted visor. "Today's your first day as a professional soldier, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Ike nodded and walked inside, still tying his sheath to his belt. "I'm ready to go."

"What you are," Greil said, "is late. The others were suited up and ready to go at the break of dawn."

_Great. My first day and I'm already back to trainee status_. Judging by the look on Greil's face, anyway. "Sorry. I'll get up earlier from now on." He looked from Titania to Greil. "So, what's my first job?"

"I'm talking with Titania right now," Greil said. "Wait outside until we're done."

"Yes, sir."

He went out the door, leaving it open as he had found it and looked around for Boyd and Oscar. Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf had once lived in the city and Oscar had once been in the army. Ike wasn't entirely sure what circumstances had brought them to their company, but Ike was glad that they came. Rolf made a good playmate for Mist and Boyd made a good friend most of the time.

They were outside the gate to the fort in a field, running drills. Oscar, in his green and gold armor, was running his horse through an obstacle course, hitting targets with his long lance. While Oscar hit every target with precision and grace, Boyd hacked away at a wooden target. A short ways away their younger brother, Rolf, fought invisible enemies with a stick that he used as a bow while Mist picked flowers, oblivious to the battle going on around her.

Ike wandered to the gate entrance and leaned against the post, looking over his shoulder at the open door he had left. Being kicked out in that fashion had the wanted effect of making him feel like an infant, not to mention his earlier blunder in sleeping in to the unearthly hour of six in the morning. He had to remind himself that was lucky to have been allowed to join them. He really was small and insignificant. This was his first day and he'd managed to mess it up already.

But he might have been reading a little too much into it. He was sure that Boyd's first time out was not that stellar, either. At least, it couldn't have been as great as Boyd insisted that it was.

As he watched Oscar and Boyd practice, Titania suddenly was standing behind him. "Come on, Ike." He looked up at her—Titania was a statuesque woman with even a bit of height on Oscar—and saw that she was smiling. But, then, she was always smiling. "Let's get you set up."

"All right," he agreed, following her to the room where they kept the weapons and the armor. _My first job…_

Titania spent the next several minutes telling Ike about the different types of armor that they kept there, even though Ike had known about all of this since he was young. So, instead of listening entirely, he just looked at it. Armor like Titania's and Oscar's was heavier than the light armor Ike would be wearing, but lighter than Gatrie's, who was a lance-wielding general the size of a bear.

Just as Ike was feeling grateful that he wouldn't be wearing massive armor like that, he saw that Titania had pulled a new set of leather armor he'd never seen before. So his father had been preparing for Ike's initiation into the Greil Mercenaries after all. It was a combination of leather and iron. It fit him perfectly and complemented his strength of wielding light blades.

"You're set," she said, looking pleased as she beheld him in his newly acquired armor.

Ike looked down at himself, thinking that he wasn't actually wearing much in the way of armor, so that his blue and red shirt was still visible. Ike tugged on the lower hem of his shirt. "I guess I am."

They went back outside where Oscar and Boyd were having some kind of argument that they recessed from as soon as they approached. "Captain Titania," Oscar said, saluting the deputy commander. "Preparations are complete, and I'm ready to go."

"Impeccable timing," Titania answered. "It's nice to know we can always count on you to be at the ready, Oscar."

Oscar smiled at this compliment, his pale face blushing slightly under his dark green and gold helmet. Boyd was less pleased with the praise given his brother, and bounded forward. "Don't forget about me! I'm ready for action."

"Is that so, Boyd?" Titania asked, smiling. "That's a surprise."

"Not today, it isn't! As of today, I am going to be the absolute model of _perfection_!" Boyd looked at the two older mercenaries, who were looking at each other with amused annoyance. Ike was glad he wasn't the only one. "I need to set a good example for Ike!"

"I'll take your word for it," Ike said, rearranging his sword and hoping that he wouldn't be treated like the baby this whole trip. Not by Boyd, anyway.

The three boys watched their fearless leader walk away to retrieve her horse from the stables, while Ike braced himself for whatever Boyd might have to say. Oscar, however, spoke first: "Your first campaign at last." Oscar got up on his horse, Specter, a beautiful bay mare that he took with him after his short service in the Crimean army. "I know you've wanted this for a while. Are you nervous, Ike?"

"I think I was more nervous last night," Ike answered. "I could hardly sleep. This morning, I'm feeling pretty good." He was pretty sure his voice didn't say the same thing that his words were, and Oscar was perceptive enough to hear it.

"You should try to relax," Oscar said. "You're not going to be out there alone."

Ike nodded: it was one of the many things that Ike appreciated about his father's line of work. Like any other mercenary, they were concerned with monetary gain. But there was something else there that they couldn't buy. They were close-knit, devoted to one another. They would stick together and they watched each other's backs. They were family.

Titania and her horse trotted up, axe at the ready at her side. "Everyone ready?" At everyone's nodding and yes-ma'aming, she said, "Let's go."

They walked for almost an hour, Boyd and Ike talking about Boyd's latest project, crafting a new handle for his axe blade. He had acquired some rather expensive and hard wood from a townsperson in an earlier mission, and the handle of his current axe was on its way to splintering. He might have also wanted a more decorative handle for his beloved weapon, but he didn't admit that in so many words. He just wanted it to "look impressive."

Titania suddenly held her hand up, her fingers held tightly together in a motion for them to stop walking and be quiet. The peak of the hill was just ahead, and Ike knew that on the other side was a small farming community called Caldea. It only had four or five houses, plus the town hall. Could it have been that Caldea had paid for their services to run out some undesirables?

Titania made a motion with her fingers at Oscar, who rode around into a clump of trees where Ike could no longer see him. Titania motioned for Ike and Boyd to come closer and dismounted. "All right," she said, "let me explain what's going on." She pulled a map of the familiar Caldea from underneath her horse's saddle. "Caldea's hired us to drive off some bandits. There is only one good entrance to the town for horses, and that's here," she said, pointing at a break in the outer fence of the community, between two houses. "The bandit leader will be up in the town hall, where they store their gold and other valuables. Our mission is to take him out and recapture that building."

It was then that Oscar came back, reporting that he could see five bandits, plus the one that they knew was in the town hall made six bandits to kill or run out of town. Titania thanked him for his superb scouting abilities and marked on the map where Oscar had seen the bandits.

"Ike," Boyd said. "Listen up. All this stuff is old news to me, but I can give a rookie like you a few tips." This drew an embarrassed sigh from Oscar, and a knowing smile from Titania. She didn't say anything; she just let him go on. "First off, don't let yourself get worked up and jump out in front of everyone. You'll just end up getting hurt."

Oscar, unexpectedly, nodded at his little bother's suggestion. "Don't try to do too much, Ike. When things get dangerous, you can—and should—rely on us. As long as you watch how the enemy moves carefully, you'll be fine." He looked at Titania, who nodded approvingly of his suggestion. "Think of this as a training mission."

"I'll do that. Thanks for your help."

"Don't mention it." Oscar pulled his visor down over his eyes and turned his horse toward town.

Boyd clapped Ike on his shoulder. "Just sit back and watch how a professional handles things!"

Ike turned his face away and rolled his eyes, thinking, _Yeah, I'll be watching Titania and Oscar the whole time. Trust me_.

Titania whapped Boyd on the back of the head this time and then glared at him. Boyd stared back, but not exactly like he was surprised about her reaction. "Enough chitchat. We're going to try to stay hidden until we reach the outskirts of the town, where it will be impossible. We have to do this fast and decisively if we are going to save the villagers and ourselves from the most harm."

"Quick and quiet," Boyd repeated. "Got it." He retreated into the woods, followed by Oscar, Titania, and finally Ike.

Ike once or twice lost sight of Titania, but regained it as they worked their way down the hill toward the town. Once they reached the outer fence, however, they were immediately spotted. Titania wasted no time in spurring her horse to jump the fence and attack the first bandit near her. Ike was quickly reminded as blood spattered on her horse's ornamental blanket that this was no training exercise.

Ike stayed on the safe side of the fence for a moment, Boyd beside him. Neither of them said anything; Boyd just gave Ike a nod before ducking under and charging a bandit screaming a war cry. When Boyd missed his first strike on a lumbering axeman, Ike was about to go help, until a bandit near him press up against the wall of one of the houses, as though he was trying to hide. Then he lit a torch.

"Those fool villagers." He spat in the dirt and blew lightly on his torch to fan the flame. "They think they can buy a bunch of sellswords to chase us away. It ain't gonna work out how they wanted. All they get for their trouble is a bunch of ruined houses!" With that, he leaned the torch on the thatched roof. "That'll teach them!"

Boyd could handle himself in a fight; Ike didn't think that the villagers could handle themselves in a burning house. He ran through what looked to be a garden and readied his sword. The house was quickly tumbling, and the windows and doors were all closed; there was no way out except through the bandit.

The bandit whirled around to face Ike, an axe leaning on his shoulder, his fighting stance much like Boyd's. It was as though Ike had trained for fighting this man only yesterday. _Watch how the enemy moves_, Ike reminded himself. The bandit shifted his weight forward ever so slightly before bringing his axe down in an arc aimed in Ike's general direction.

Ike moved to the side, holding his sword out to the side to deflect the blade should it come too close. Unlike Boyd, however, the bandit drew his axe in a wide circle instead of allowing his blade to stick in the dirt as Boyd had so masterfully done the day before. Ike wondered if he would ever get a clear chance to attack him without the chance of his head being cut off.

The bandit staggered back ever so slightly as he replaced his axe on his shoulder, and Ike didn't even think. He lunged forward, the tip of his sword navigating directly into the bandit's chest. He gasped and slumped forward on Ike's blade, looking confused as Ike shoved him off with his foot.

Surveying the area and finding no bandits immediately threatening, he ran to the house and body-slammed the door. It gave way more easily than he had anticipated, and he immediately found himself in a burning one-room cabin. Accompanying him was a courageous-looking man with a rusty-looking sword on his belt, a tear-stained woman, and a bewildered little girl.

"Come on!" he shouted at them, pointing at the door. "Get out of here!" The man scooped the little girl up in his arms and ushered the woman toward the door. Ike followed them, and, not a moment too soon, part of the roof collapsed in and a window sill fell off in embers.

"Thank you! Thank you!" the man said as he directed his family into the cover of the forest hills.

Ike watched the family until they were safely away, and then looked for Boyd. A swordsman had picked Boyd has his target and seemed to be toying with him as he dashed and twirled around and jabbed here, cut there, never killing, but always doing some damage. Ike saw a rather large cut on Boyd's left forearm, which was, thankfully, his off-arm. Boyd was becoming rather red-faced as all he could do was try to block the swift swordsman's attacks.

Ike rushed in just as the bandit's sword came in for another stab that would have surely found a home in Boyd's right shoulder, incapacitating him, and batted the sword to the ground. He drew the sword up the bandit's arm and placed the blade to his throat before turning his entire body and pulling his sword through. He tried not to listen and tried not to think as the bandit collapsed in a pool of blood. But it was either this ruffian or his friend, and he knew what he would choose every time.

"Thanks," Boyd gasped, running his fingers over one of his larger cuts.

"Professional help is hard to find," Ike answered, also looking at Boyd's red fingers. Battle was a bloody business, indeed.

Oscar and his horse galloped up beside them, and Oscar twirled his shining lance in his hand, indicating that none of the lives taken today would be on Oscar's tally. "The rest of them have run off. The only bandit left is their leader, and he's retreated into the building. We may have to go in after him."

"I'll go!" Ike stood and raised his sword.

"No." Ike was about to object that he wanted to do it when Titania said, "Ike, no. Look at yourself."

Ike looked down and was surprised to find that he had somehow sustained a hit to his ribs that was streaming blood on his favorite shirt. He all of the sudden felt light-headed and staggered forward. "Oh…" he said, perhaps a little stupidly. "How did this happen?" He had a vague recollection of the bandit's sword moving a split second before Ike dispatched him.

He fell to his knees, and probably would have ended up on his face had Boyd not been there to catch him. "Hey, steady there, rookie," he said.

"I'll go," Titania said, dismounting her horse and running to the building, axe at the ready.

Ike watched with bleary eyes as she disappeared into the grand building and Oscar called for her to be safe. He looked down at Ike and then at his brother. "We had better wrap you two up," he said, sliding off of Specter.

One by one, villagers emerged from their houses, many with tears of gladness and others with whoops of triumph, offering their assistance and thanks. Ike watched them, glad that he had been able to help them, but ungrateful for his first real wound. He must have lost a lot of blood, because he could barely see straight and stay upright as Oscar slowly wrapped a bandage around his waist to cover the slice. He wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep, but knew that he had to walk home yet.

"Thanks," Ike said, taking shallow breaths to inhibit his ribs from hurting so much.

In answer, Oscar only nodded and touched the rim of his helmet before going on to Boyd with his bandages that he'd brought with him in a little saddle pouch. "Good goddess, Boyd, did you have to get hit by _every_ weapon in town?" he asked after he had wrapped up three of his largest wounds.

"Hey," Boyd said, sounding hurt, and probably feeling the same as he was beginning to look like a mummy.

After Oscar had finished tending the most urgent of Boyd's wounds, a woman approached them. "Excuse me," she said, taking a few timorous steps toward them. The three of them looked up, but she addressed Oscar specifically. "Since the bandits took over, we couldn't even sleep at night. Thank you for saving our village. We could never repay you." She shook out a beautiful silky blue robe and offered it to Oscar. "Please take this. My mother left me this Blessed robe and… I hope it serves you well."

"Oh, I—" Oscar said, looking at his now bloody hands from wrapping up Ike and Boyd. "I can't take that," he said.

"Please," she said. "Here, I'll put it over your saddle." She laid the robe over Oscar's saddle horn before shyly leaning over and giving him a kiss on his cheek before walking away.

"Ohh, Oscar." Boyd snickered and whacked Oscar on the back, since it was the only thing he could reach.

"Shut up," Oscar said, retaliating by smacking Boyd in the arm, which goaded an injured yelp from his little brother. But Oscar was going red again, and Boyd had his reward.

Ike smiled and looked up at the blue robe. He wondered what its purpose was, and if any of them would really get any use from it. But it was a sweet gesture, especially that thank-you kiss. His mind turned from the pretty girl back to his throbbing wound, and he watched the door of the town hall for Titania to come out so that they could go home and Ike could rest.

She soon emerged, blood on her silver armor and her hand covering a wound on her shoulder. She seemed well otherwise as she knelt next to Ike. "That's the end of it," she sighed. "Ike, are you all right?"

Ike nodded, feeling tired and not really all right. But he knew that he would after a few days of recuperation. "Yeah," he finally answered, knowing that his voice probably gave her the impression to the contrary. "I'll be fine." He took Titania's offer for a hand up and was once again standing, a hand over his aching ribs.

"You know," she said. "You surprised me. To think… you've come so far…"

"Look at my father though." Ike sighed and leaned on Titania's horse for support. "I've still got a long way to go."

"There's nothing you can do about that," she said. "After all, Commander Greil is…" She stopped short.

"What?" Ike asked.

"Oh, nothing."

"Nothing? Now I'm really curious," he said with a half-smile.

"Don't worry. You'll learn about it someday." She looked up and down Ike and then at Boyd for a moment. "Ike, can you walk?"

"I think so," he answered.

"Maybe. But I'd rather you take it easy. Up you go," she said, patting the saddle on her horse. "Don't want to have too bad an experience your first time out," she said as Ike didn't bother to argue with her and got up on her horse. "You did very well," she said, smiling up at him.

"Yeah, that wasn't bad for your first battle," Boyd agreed, limping beside Titania's horse. "Not as flashy as my first time, though!"

"Yeah," Oscar laughed. "You were a _real_ standout. I'll never forget the sight of you so keyed up you broke your own axe."

"Oscar! Dang it! You didn't have to bring that up!"

The rest of them laughed as Boyd sulked, nursing the wound to his ego. "Anyway," Oscar went on, "Ike, congratulations on finishing your first mission and welcome to the group."

They walked away on the road leading back to the Greil Mercenary's fort, Ike cheerful in spite of his hurting. He really was part of the group. Even the playful ribbing that Boyd gave him was a sparring match as though held between brothers. Maybe it was more than a group. He was part of the family.

Titania suddenly spoke up as they reached the top of the first hill home. "I'm sure Mist has a nice, hot meal waiting for us." She smiled as everyone else groaned. As much as Ike loved his little sister… he sure hoped not.


End file.
